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WELCOME TO THE PRO REPORT. Republicans on Thursday managed to push a farm bill through their chamber — with about three votes to spare. Most Republicans erupted in cheers when the bill passed this afternoon, and whole bunch came up to shake Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s hand. He’d been standing with his arms crossed and brows furrowed watching the roll call. Now, all’s quite on the Hill for the long weekend. What should be on my radar next week? Email: rbade@politico.com. Or tweet me @RachaelMBade and follow @POLITICOPro.

TODAY’S TOP NEWS:

1.)HOUSE PASSES FARM BILL, SANS FOOD STAMPS. David Rogers reports for POLITICO: “The House narrowly passed a pared-back farm bill Thursday after Republican leaders stripped out the nutrition title — impacting food stamps and local food banks — to win back conservative votes. The 216-208 roll call avoids a repeat of last month’s embarrassing collapse and for the first time in a year will allow House-Senate talks on a final farm package.

All but 12 Republicans supported the measure — in contrast with the 62 defections in June. And it was a badly needed, face-saving win for Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), whose tactics contributed to last month’s loss and who had bet heavily on the new approach to recover.

“Nonetheless, the decision to jettison the nutrition title breaks with nearly a half century of precedent. And the GOP victory came at a huge political cost, splitting American agriculture and driving a wedge between urban and rural lawmakers who have long worked together on farm legislation. All 196 Democrats voted in opposition…” The recap: http://politi.co/18c8mvk

2.) SENATE MARCHES ON TOWARD HISTORIC RULE CHANGE. Burgess Everett and John Bresnahan for the hometown paper: “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has ‘broken’ his promises to consider President Barack Obama’s executive branch nominations, Majority Leader Harry Reid charged on Thursday, saying he will file cloture on several nominees, pushing the Senate closer to the brink of a historic rules change. … Reid did not say he would invoke the so-called nuclear option just yet. That would involve Reid pushing through a change to Senate rules that would require only 51 votes to end a filibuster on an executive branch nominee. Reid would do so despite the fact that he will not have the required 67 votes normally necessary to change the chamber’s arcane — and venerated — regulations. Among the nominees Reid said the GOP has delayed unnecessarily, Reid named specifically CIA Director John Brennan and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Those two nominees are now in place, as are the vast majority of Obama’s executive picks. But Reid said the exponential increase in procedural votes on most of those nominees is eating up the Senate’s valuable floor time.” http://politi.co/12k26d6

— McConnell warns Reid that he’ll have a legacy of killing the Senate: “No majority leader wants written on his tombstone that he presided over the end of the Senate,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday, Alex Pappas of the Daily Caller reports. “Well, if this majority leader caves to the fringes and let’s this happen, I’m afraid that’s exactly what they’ll write.”

FIVE SNAP FACTS. Democrats might be big backers, but we all know Republicans have some serious issues with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — hence the reason GOP leadership filtered it out to get the farm bill passed. Here are some facts about SNAP, pulled from CBO and GAO studies:

1.) The Cost: The Feds paid out $71.8 billion worth of food stamps in fiscal 2012. One estimate put the fiscal 2013 price tag at about $82 billion.

2.) Error Rate: 3.8 percent. That's about $2.7 billion that’s given to people who don’t actually qualify. That’s actually a huge decrease from 1999, when 1-in-10 checks were sent in error.

3.) The People: In 2010, 85 percent of recipient households fell below the poverty line, which was about $18,500 for a family of three. Fifty percent of 2011 recipients had kids, 16 percent were over 60-years-old and 20 percent were under-60 but disabled.

4.) Recipients Numbers: They’ve grown pretty tremendously because of the recession. In 2007, 26 million lived on food stamps, but in 2011 45 million — or one-in-seven Americans — was part of the program.

5.) Financial Benefit to Households: In 2010, recipients made on average $731 per month, minus the food payouts. SNAP added about $287 to their finances each month — about $4.30 a day. The total boost to their finances was, on average, 39 percent.

TWITTER GOLD: “I just heard [Rep.] Trent Franks ask Siri for ‘the strongest arguments against the farm bill.’” That’s Matthew Fuller, Roll Call’s newest leadership reporter, just around noon. Apparently he came across the Arizona Republican in the House carryout talking to his iPhone to get more research on the farm bill before the vote. And by the way, he definitely voted no.

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SHOCKER: HOUSE TO VOTE TO DELAY OBAMACARE. House Speaker John Boehner announced at his press conference Thursday morning that his chamber will vote next week to extend the White House’s delay for the employer mandate to the rest of Americans. “If you’re a software company making billions in profits, you’re exempt from Obamacare next year,” he said. “But if you’re a 28-year-old struggling to pay off your student loans, you’re not.” Here’s Paige Winfield Cunningham: http://politico.pro/189nfLk

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ON PRO TODAY –

REID SETS UP VOTES ON NOMINEES. He prepped the chamber Thursday for procedural votes on McCarthy, CFPB nominee Richard Cordray and five other executive branch nominations, including Tom Perez’s for Labor secretary. Those will likely happen next week, when Congress comes back

“NUCLEAR OPTION” MIGHT NOT HURT MCCARTHY. Darren Goode and Andrew Restuccia say the EPA nominee still has a “clear shot at winning confirmation under existing Senate rules. Key Republicans show no signs so far that their votes on McCarthy — or at least a decision on giving her an up-or-down vote — would be swayed by Democrats’ seeming willingness to rewrite the rules on filibusters.” http://politico.pro/15yTdAu

HOUSE GOP’S NEWEST OUT ON SENATE IMMIGRATION BILL:TAXES. Yes, taxes. Lauren French explains: “Rep. Dave Camp, the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, said Thursday the Senate immigration bill is unconstitutional because it raises revenue. The Constitution requires revenue bills to originate in the House. … It’s not a new argument. Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) last month urged Boehner to use the so-called blue slip process to reject the Senate bill and allow the House to craft its own immigration legislation. Given his role as the top tax writer in the House, Camp’s comments could raise the prominence of such arguments.” http://politico.pro/16vt0Qb

HE SAW THE LIGHT. And now it’s shining on laser policy. Kathryn A. Wolfe explains: “Wednesday’s news that the pilot trying to land Asiana Airlines Flight 214 may have been temporarily blinded by a flash of light calls attention to a pernicious problem for air safety: lasers pointed at planes and helicopters in flight. … ‘He said it wasn’t a laser — it was temporary, and when he looked back into the cabin he could see the instruments just fine.’ … But lasers shined into a cockpit can and do interfere with flights. Though lasers pointed a short distance away appear as a small circle of light, the beam is widened the further it goes. The laser beams can also damage skin and eyes. The FAA first started keeping track of laser incidents in 2005, and the figures rose steadily until 2011, when reports reached a peak of 3,591 incidents. In 2010, San Francisco International Airport was ninth on the list of airports with the most incidents. Los Angeles International Airport was No. 1.” http://politico.pro/11GcqRu

GOP OUTLINES NEW HOUSE FINANCING SYSTEM. Jon Prior lists a few: “Fannie and Freddie would be stripped of their government charters, the companies would be liquidated and the portfolios and operations would be wound down over about a five-year period. Fannie and Freddie would continue to send all their profits to the Treasury Department, but the bill would not direct any proceeds to the companies' current shareholders. … FHA would be spun off as a separate agency outside of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. ...The bill would reduce the loan limit FHA can insure to $625,500 from $729,750 today. Borrowers would be required to put at least 5 percent down on FHA insured loans, up from the 3.5 percent required today.” Learn more: http://politico.pro/1dnHeq0

LAWMAKERS TO UNCLE SAM: DON’T BUY CHINESE. Tony Romm reports for Pros: “House lawmakers concerned about cyberespionage are again trying to prevent the U.S. government from purchasing some Chinese-manufactured technology — a restriction opposed by both the Obama administration and top U.S. technology firms. A portion of a new, 2014 spending bill, authored by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), would require IT vendors to certify their independence from the Chinese government before they can sell to select U.S. federal agencies. … Wolf is trying to keep out Chinese-based telecom equipment-makers like Huawei and ZTE, both of which were flagged by a 2012 congressional report for their alleged ties to the Chinese government.” http://politico.pro/13DB2vI

ON TAP FRIDAY: The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute at 6 a.m. will release the results of a poll gauging Americans’ opinions on potential 2016 presidential contesters. … At 12:30 p.m., The Heritage Foundation talks filibuster reform in the Senate with Robert Dove, parliamentarian emeritus in the U.S. Senate; Brian Darling, counsel for Sen. Rand Paul; James Wallner, executive director of the Senate Steering Committee; and Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation. … And throughout the first part of the day, Brookings Institution will host a forum on transportation infrastructure.

POLICY AROUND THE WEB:

— Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer announced a massive reorganization of the giant technology company on Thursday. Here’s Shira Ovide and Don Clark for The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/189wnQj

— Mexico surpassed the United States in the number of obese adults with 32.8 percent of Mexicans weighing in over weight. Compare that to the U.S., at 31.8 percent, according to a UN Food and Agriculture Organization study reported on by the AP Thursday. http://yhoo.it/1brwBEE

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